Shakira childhood fact file

Shakira was born on February 2, 1977 in Barranquilla, Colombia. Her father is originally from the United States, born in New York. She is the only child of Nidia Ripoll and William Mebarak Chadid.
She spent much of her youth in Barranquilla, a city located in northern Colombia.
Shakira started to write her poems when she was only four years old. At the age of seven, she got her typewriter[1] and continued writing poetry, later she wrote her songs.
She enjoyed singing for schoolmates and teachers (and even the nuns[2]) at her Catholic school, but in the second grade was rejected for the school choir[3] because her voice was too strong. The music teacher told her that she sounded "like a goat[4]". At school, she says she had been known as "the belly dancer girl[5]", as[6] she performed every Friday at school a number she had learned.
When she was eight, Shakira's father declared bankruptcy[7] and she stayed for a while with relatives in Los Angeles. On returning to Barranquilla, she was shocked to find that they were poor; as she later said "In my childish head, this was the end of the world."
Between the ages of ten and thirteen Shakira was invited to various events in Barranquilla and became popular in the area.
Shakira's debut album, Magia, was recorded with Sony Music Columbia in 1990 when she was only thirteen years old. The songs are a collection made by her since she was 8, mixed pop-rock ballads and disco up-tempo songs with electronic accompaniment.



Macchina da scrivere

[2] suore

[3] coro

[4] capra

[5] Danzatrice del ventre

[6] perchè

[7] bancarotta

[1]